Late at night.
After seeing off the heavily drunk Zhou Yan, Lin Fan returned home with some late-night snacks.
Click.
The door opened, and he saw Longyue sitting in the pitch-dark living room, slurping instant noodles, using only the built-in flashlight of her phone for illumination.
Seeing Lin Fan return, Longyue was also stunned for a moment, a strand of noodles still dangling from her mouth.
"Why isn't the light on? Did the power go out in the house?" Lin Fan asked in confusion.
"Doesn't the electricity bill also require money? So this Empress didn't turn it on…"
Longyue slurped the noodles into her mouth and mumbled in a small, somewhat guilty voice.
Last month, due to casually ordering takeout and buying food, as well as leaving the lights and TV on all day, the money in the house had rapidly run out.
She had originally hoped that her magic treasures could be exchanged for money, but that hope had been dashed…
To save money, she no longer dared to turn on the TV and lights.
Seeing Longyue eating instant noodles in the dark, Lin Fan felt both amused and a little poignant.
This majestic Empress from the Immortal Realm was reluctant to even turn on the lights, sitting alone in the dark eating instant noodles…
"You don't need to save this little bit of electricity expense, it's not that much."
Lin Fan reached out and turned on the living room light, then placed the fried chicken late-night snack he bought in front of her.
"Here, late-night snack I brought for you."
"Ooh! Fried chicken!"
Longyue's eyes lit up when she saw the fried chicken in front of her, saliva almost dripping from the corner of her mouth. However, in the end, common sense overcame appetite, and she looked at Lin Fan with a worried expression.
"Didn't we run out of money at home? Why are you still buying fried chicken for this Empress?"
"It's fine, I've temporarily found a solution to the money problem. Going forward, you can still order whatever you want to eat."
"Really?!"
Longyue's beautiful face glowed with joy, but then she suddenly remembered something. Her gaze narrowed, and her expression slowly became serious.
"Demon Sovereign, where did you get the money?"
"You didn't… rob someone, did you?!"
As far as she knew, this world had an ancient bank-like institution, called a bank, which stored large amounts of money and gold.
If you robbed a bank just once, you wouldn't have to worry about food and drink for a lifetime!
In movies, many extreme and desperate villains have tried to rob banks for money. She couldn't help but suspect that Lin Fan might do the same…
After all, for a Demon Sovereign to rob a bank, it was perfectly reasonable, right?
Lin Fan shook his head at Longyue, speechless, and couldn't help but admire her imagination.
"I would never use my residual spiritual energy for such a thing."
"The money was borrowed from this Sovereign's friend in this world."
Longyue, who was slurping on a chicken drumstick, looked surprised.
"Friend? Demon Sovereign, you have friends?"
Lin Fan was silent, so angry he wanted to snatch the drumstick out of her mouth.
"I've also lived in this world for more than twenty years, after all. I have a few friends, more or less."
"Oh… sorry."
Longyue also realized that what she said sounded quite harsh and hurriedly apologized, handing a piece of the chicken drumstick from her hand to Lin Fan.
"Want some?"
"I already ate out, you can have it."
Lin Fan pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Longyue. Watching her eat, he asked curiously:
"Why are you eating so late at night like this?"
"This Empress wanted to wait for you to come home to cook noodles together, but you didn't come back, and you didn't reply to my message either…"
Longyue put down the chicken drumstick in her hand and cast a small, accusatory look at Lin Fan.
Lin Fan opened his phone and only then realized the text message Longyue sent around six o'clock.
—Demon Sovereign, this Empress plans to cook noodles tonight. Will you be coming home to eat together? If so, this Empress will wait for you to cook together.
"Sorry, this Sovereign didn't look at my phone when I was out. Next time, you can just call directly."
Hearing this, Longyue lowered her head listlessly.
"This Empress thought you weren't coming back, so I didn't call…"
After Lin Fan left, she felt a slight unease in her heart, always thinking that perhaps the Demon Sovereign found her to be a burden and used that as an excuse to leave…
The thought of being abandoned alone, not knowing how to survive in this world in the future, made her heart increasingly restless.
With a try-it-and-see attitude, she tried sending a text message to Lin Fan.
After sending the message at six, she kept holding her phone, constantly paying attention to her messages, hoping for a reply. But in the end, there was no news even after ten o'clock.
It made her think at one point that the Demon Sovereign really wasn't coming back…
Seeing Longyue who was actually afraid of being alone, Lin Fan was surprised.
He had only been gone for barely a day, yet this Empress was so worried…
This seemingly resolute Empress also had a vulnerable side…
Thinking of this, Lin Fan smiled apologetically and gently placed his palm on Longyue's head.
"Empress, this is my home. Where else would I go but back here?"
Longyue was silent for a moment, then let out a soft sigh and pushed Lin Fan's hand away.
"Hmph, this Empress doesn't care whether you, the Demon Sovereign, return or not."
Lin Fan saw through the disingenuous heart. He smiled without saying anything, not exposing her.
If she truly didn't care and wasn't afraid, she wouldn't have shown that listless expression earlier…
As Longyue munched on the chicken drumstick with relish, Lin Fan caught a glimpse of the phone she had placed on the table. The phone screen clearly displayed the information page of a job recruitment app.
"Empress, are you looking for a job?" Lin Fan asked curiously.
"Mmm…"
Longyue glanced at her phone and nodded softly.
"This Empress doesn't want to eat and live for free at your place, Demon Sovereign. We agreed on a thousand rent per month, and this Empress will definitely give it to you!"
As a former Empress, she had absolutely no concept of money, as she never needed to use it.
After coming to this world, she had also never paid attention to the money in this world. With a month of understanding, she now deeply grasped the importance of money.
It wasn't just to pay the promised thousand rent to the Demon Sovereign every month, but also so she could buy the things she liked at will. She decided to start working hard to make money!
"Hearing such words from Your Majesty the Empress, this Sovereign can rest assured."
Seeing the determined Longyue, Lin Fan couldn't help but show an expression of approval.
The thousand rent he had proposed at the beginning was actually just a joke. He didn't take it seriously and didn't really expect her to pay the thousand rent every month.
He thought that as an Empress, it would be absolutely impossible for her to work and make money, and she certainly wouldn't be able to pay the rent. However, he hadn't expected that she was actually planning to look for a job…
This was also an opportunity for her to further understand this world, so naturally, he had no reason to stop her.
"How is it? Has the Empress found a desired job yet?"
"Not yet, but this Empress has completed the most crucial first step. I will soon find a job!"
Longyue lifted her head proudly, and with a face full of pride and confidence, she handed over her phone, displaying the resume information she had filled out all day, to Lin Fan.
"Look, the resume this Empress made herself. How is it~!"
———-